THE new men at the helm at Haydock Park Racecourse have set out their plans for the new jump racing season and beyond.

General manager Adam Waterworth and clerk of the course Kirkland Tellwright promised to build on the progress of the late 1990s when Haydock was named Travelling The Turf Racecourse of the Year twice in three years.

The 2000/1 National Hunt season is set for record prize money again following an overall increase of 10 per cent during the whole of 2000.

Haydock's exclusive initiative of encouraging more runners by offering owners and trainers complimentary lunch and drinks in a paddock-side pavilion, as well as free transport to and from local railway stations and airports, is being repeated. The successful scheme led to a 15 per cent rise in runners last season.

Irish runners will continue to be encouraged with travel allowances which, but for bad weather, would have meant Doran's Pride running in the Tommy Whittle Chase a year ago.

Bet Direct will once again be sponsoring the Peter Marsh Chase in January.

A £10,000 bonus will be offered to the connections of the winning horse in the Walrus Hunter Chase in February should it go on to win either of the Foxhunter Chases at the Cheltenham and Aintree Festivals. A bonus of £25,000 will be paid should the horse go on to win both.

The De Vere Gold Cup is the showpiece race of the entire jump racing season at Haydock when £100,000 prize money will be on offer.

Adam Waterworth said: "Our National Hunt philosophy remains the same -- to maintain a very high quality of racing while at the same time encouraging greater numbers of runners with a range of incentives.

"Haydock has enjoyed year-on-year attendance increased since the early 1990s. In the first 10 months of 2000 we've seen another increase of five per cent.

"We're already looking ahead to next summer and planning initiatives on racedays -- our Friday evenings, Saturdays and our annual summer Sunday -- when we believe that we can attract even larger audiences than now"